Christine Whelan FEO, February 15, 2024, VOL. 5 ISSUE 12

The Bert Miller Nature Club is trying something different, asking residents to join in and accept the challenge — a challenge to just do something, anything to help our earth.

Anne Mills, Christine Knighton, and Deb Sherk are leading the project. “But the whole club is participating,” Anne shared, listing tasks to bring this relaxed event of awareness together, such as collecting prizes in the community and promoting the Challenge through social media and other avenues.

 I spoke with Anne to see how the Challenge had been going, once January had been completed.

“It’s kind of a new venture for the Bert Miller Nature Club,” Mills commented, “We’ve concentrated more on habitat protection and biodiversity. We continue and are proud to do all those things but we thought it was time to try something new.”

The Earth Challenge started on January 1. There is a different theme for the challenge each month.

“To participate, people just have to send me an email and I’ll sign them up. Then they’ll get an email from us every month with insights and suggestions of what they can do, related to that theme.”

She continued, “All the names of the participants, once they’ve completed at least one suggestion or their own thing, are thrown into a hat. We pull a name each month. At the end of the month, they get an email telling them who the winner is. We’re giving a prize for each month.”

“January’s Challenge focused on the theme of Home Efficiency.

January’s email, which went out January 1, included information about trying earth-friendly actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from home.

A Few Facts

“A local environmental advocacy group called 50by30 Niagara (50by30niagara.org) estimates that 40 percent of Niagara’s emissions are from buildings, which is quite significant. However, as individuals, we have the power to work together and make a difference. By taking simple earth-friendly actions we can significantly reduce emissions from our homes and buildings.

If you are tired of all the doom and gloom about Climate Change, have a look at Project Drawdown, drawdown.org, a science-based organization with a positive message. The organization has documented 93 solutions to climate change. Project Drawdown’s analysis indicates that individual household actions can reduce overall emissions by about 25 to 30.

The challenge for January was to try one or two or all of them, whatever worked for the participant.

• If you have a gas or oil furnace, try keeping your home temperature during the day at 20 C, put on a sweater if you get chilly instead of turning up the heat
• Turn down the heat at night to 17C or less
• Turn down the heat when you go out for more than 2 hours
• Turn out lights when you leave the room
• Try “hanging to dry” some or all of the clothes from the washer so there are fewer dryer loads. If you don’t have a rack, hang clothes on hangers and hang on the shower rod
• Seal/caulk windows and doors to reduce drafts
• Arrange for or have a Home Energy Audit completed on your home. This is the first step in the process whereby you may receive government grants to offset the cost of home retrofits. For more information: Canada Greener Homes Grant
• Look into the cost and details of installing an alternative heat source such as a heat pump. At the following link, there are numerous local resources with information about how to install a heat pump and receive federal and provincial grants to offset the cost 50by30niagara.org/homesandbuildings.

The participants were encouraged to come up with their ideas and share them on the club’s Facebook page.

Prizes

“There was a winner for January.” A pack of alpaca socks had been donated for this appointed prize. It reflected the importance of dressing warm to keep warm on cold days instead of raising the heat in the house.

“Then there was a Catch the Ace ticket, supporting the Fort Erie Lions Club and Legion.” And finally, “Deb Sherk makes the most fantastic homemade cookies and she donated a small tin full.”

This month’s prize is a $25 gift certificate from the Niagara Samosa Factory in Fort Erie.

“We’re trying to keep it local,” supporting local businesses and services.

February’s Challenge focuses on environmentally-friendly eating and the email went out February 1, again with insights and suggestions.

A Few Facts

“According to carbonbrief.org, food production accounts for one-quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions and takes up half the planet’s habitable surface. Meat and dairy specifically account for around 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). Climate scientists agree that reducing animal protein across the board will be needed to keep warming within prescribed limits. Beans and nuts are excellent choices of protein if you are moving away from beef.

“Globally, land is constantly being cleared to increase the production of beef. This leads to habitat loss for other animals and loss of biodiversity in plant life. Something as simple as reducing or eliminating beef from your diet can have a big impact on your carbon footprint.

“Food packaging is also a contributor to climate change, as well as having many other negative effects on the environment. For more information, you can go to foodprint.org

The challenge for February was, as in January, to try one or two or all of them, whatever worked for the participant.

• Reduce or eliminate beef from your diet
• Introduce one or more “meatless” meals per week
• Growing your own veggies will have compound benefits-more about that in, our May challenge. Perhaps plan your veggie garden now – a great thing to do on a winter day!
• Pay attention to packaging, for example, do bananas or peppers need to be put on plastic trays and covered in plastic wrap?
• Buy local and shop at farmer’s markets when you can
• Buy less processed food. Eat (real) food, not too much, mostly plants (quote from Michael Pollan)
• Be mindful of your choices at the grocery store. Look for labeling on products such as the “MSC” label on fish and “Rainforest Alliance” on coffee that indicates environmental sustainability.
• Reduce food waste; plan to use up leftovers
• Compost and use your green bin for food waste
• Donate to a food bank if you can

As with January, participants are encouraged to come up with their own ideas.

February’s email included inspiration to get the participants started. Links to two meatless soup recipes were added.

March’s theme will be Plastics and Packaging, April’s theme will be Save Money/Support Local, and May’s theme will be Get Gardening! Become a participant to get a peek into the goodies included in the following month’s emails.

“We’ve tried to make it very friendly and with no pressure. So, try one of the options or try them all. It’s up to each participant how involved they want to get.”

At the time of this interview, there were 35 people taking part, Anne said. “Anyone is welcome to sign up at any time. We’re happy to have new people join.”

To sign up to participate, send an email to the Bert Miller Nature Club’s address: letsdosomething.bmnc@gmail.com

To learn more about the Bert Miller Nature Club go to the club’s website: bertmillernatureclub.org